charles preuss was very likely on his horse and out where he could see from down in this little canyon. and drawing any sketches of the map from what he could see. the expedition, as far as i could read in the journal, would start each day moving out of where they were encamped at about 10:00. maybe even 11:00. it took them a long time. during that time, fitzpatrick and carson, very likely that they were out in front to find a good route, if not already on a trail of some kind. when they arrived and saw the trees for the first time, it was on the day of december 5, 1843. they had been a few miles away from it but they had not seen it yet. when they saw it, there was a huge amount of lava activity geologically and a lot of falls and rapids where we are going right now. we are going to a place called dillon falls. this is right by ryan ranch. we will get a chance to see that here. today, the country was all pine forest. beautiful weather made our journey delightful. it was too warm at noon for winter clothes. the snow, which lay everywhere in patches through the forest, was melting rapid